Greatest sportsman of all time. Who is it?

[MacB]

I've given this a lot of thought and it has to be ME.

Anyone else you could list will be bound to have the advantage of some level of natural talent. Being a truly talentless t*sser I feel my ability to walk, relatively, upright deserves an accolade. The fact that I have participated in sports shows an incredible level of dedication. The example I've set to others, mainly through comical disbelief, has been a shining beacon of hope. Those that have excelled at sports set an example to the naturally gifted who are able to strive for those heights. Thus they are elitist and not worthy of mention, let alone recognition. For most their elite contribution has resulted in an, all too painful, awareness of their inadequacy. Myself, and others approaching my lowly level, have given these people back their self esteem.

recognition of my efforts would be nice, cash even nicer

 

[PaulB]

Don Bradman has to be one of the greatest!

Stop the thread! Bradman isn't ONE of the greatest but demonstrably THE greatest and will almost certainly never be topped.

He was a freak of nature and an abberation and in all probability, we will not see his like again. In cricket, they refer to it as the Bradman Problem; for all the new training, better diets and larger population giving us a vastly increased talent pool, no one has yet got anywhere near his towering achievements. And Bradman was far better at cricket than anyone has ever been at any other measurable sport. The next best player is cricketing history is further behind him than anyone in any other sport. In an obituary for Bradman in Feb 2001, the New York Times, not an organ that features cricket over-much, mathematically converted his cricket average into other sporting measures - Basketball points per game, Baseball hits per innings. Bradman, they concluded, was better than Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb.

Taking all factors into consideration, for a current player to be as good as Bradman, they would need to average about 77. No one is yet out of the high 50s. So there we have it. Whenever the question rears its head again, you can say with confidence that the greatest sportsman of all time is and will probably remain, the great Donald Bradman.

 

[oxbob]

So you want a medal/prize for going arse over tit in the primary school sports day?

 

[PaulB]

I've given this a lot of thought and it has to be ME.

My mistake! I posted too early without having read MacBludgeon's candidacy and having taken everything into consideration, the record books will have to be re-written to say quite clearly it is him

 

[mr Mag00]

Ole Einar Bjorndalen

 

[snakehips]

I've given this a lot of thought and it has to be ME.

recognition of my efforts would be nice, cash even nicer

I'm afraid you'll have to settle for mere immortality , just like poor old Pheidippides

 

[mickle]

I'm with Crock O'Gold on this; Mohammed Ali. Most def.

 

[PaulB]

I'm with Crock O'Gold on this; Mohammed Ali. Most def.

Good and inspirational as he was, he isn't. The definitive answer has already been given.

 

[asterix]

My candidate is a Breton: Eric Tabarly

Tabarly (1933-1998) sailed a succession of boats named Pen Duick into the history books over three decades of ocean racing and record setting. His list of distance-racing victories is staggering, and includes: The Channel Race, Turn of Gotland, Sydney Hobart (1967); San Francisco-Tokyo (1969); Falmouth-Gibraltar, Middle Sea Race (1971); Transpac (1972); First to beat Charlie Barr’s Transatlantic record (1980, on Paul Ricard); Fastnet Race (1997 on Aquitaine Innovations). He also sailed in the first edition of the Whitbread in 1973, and again in 1994.

One can safely say that his influence on generations of French sailors is at least partially responsible for their present world domination of the sport of single-handed and multihull sailing.

 

[PaulB]

My candidate is a Breton: Eric Tabarly

We're looking for sportsmen, not who's going to star in the film version of Captain Pugwash.

 

[MacB]

My mistake! I posted too early without having read MacBludgeon's candidacy and having taken everything into consideration, the record books will have to be re-written to say quite clearly it is him

thank you, I'm not too modest to accept the due accolade

 

[alecstilleyedye]

fatima whitbread

 

[Smokin Joe]

Cliche but I'll say Ali. What a personal adventure he took! In the political and social context of his time he truly was a real human hero. Of course this meant that he was flawed. And he was used and abused by those supposedly looking after his interests. And he unnecassarily abused Frazier of being an Uncle Tom. But ultimately he was a Global Sports Icon.

Shakespeare would have written a play around him.

I think Ali was over-rated, as good as he was. His fame came more from his personality than his talent.

Had he been just an ordinary guy he would be barely remembered outside of the boxing world.

 

[Nicensleazy]

Could it be Hugh Cornwell??

 

[iGaz]

Sebastian Loeb, great former international gymnast who can make Citroen C4 WRC car dance and be unstoppable in the process.

or,,,

Ayrton Senna

or,,,

For me it has to be Lance Armstrong, to come back from being riddled with cancer and then win the Tour de France as many times as he did, its legendary to me!!